New Delhi, Jun 1 (IANS): In view of the current Covid-19 situation, the "flexi" (flexible) attendance option in the Central government offices was on Tuesday extended till June 15.

This is in continuation of an earlier order providing for the "flexi" attendance in the offices. Prior to that, the offices were expected to function on a pattern of 50 per cent attendance.

Union Minister Jitendra Singh made the announcement while chairing a meeting of senior officers of Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).

As per the current order, Secretaries of the ministries or departments and heads of department of attached and subordinate offices are mandated to regulate the attendance of employees at all levels, keeping in view the Covid positive cases in the office and the functional requirement.

Persons with Disabilities and pregnant women employees may be exempted from attending office, but they shall continue to work from home, the order also mentions.

All officers and staff residing in the containment zone shall also be exempted from coming to offices till the containment zone is denotified. These officers or staff who are residing in containment zones shall work from home and shall be available on telephone and electronic means of communications at all times.

Officers or staff shall follow staggered timings to avoid overcrowding in offices or workplaces as decided by the heads of department.

All officials who attend office shall strictly follow Covid-appropriate behaviour including wearing of mask, physical distancing, use of sanitiser and frequent hand-washing with soap and water.

The Minister also hoped that all these instructions will be followed in letter and spirit in the interest of the well-being of all the citizens and government employees and their families.

Singh, however, reiterated that official work will not be allowed to suffer and all attempts will be made to minimise the loss of man-days on account of government employees falling sick on account of Covid.

He expressed satisfaction that the concept of "vaccination at workplace" had emerged as a successful model and urged the states and Union Territories (UTs) to emulate the same.

At the vaccination centre set up at the North Block, the Minister said, over 228 had received vaccination so far and that such centres are also being set up in other Central government offices and departments.

He once again renewed his appeal for speedy vaccination of all the eligible Central government employees of the age of 18 years and above.

During the last one year of the pandemic, DoPT had developed a set of guidelines to be followed in the government offices, which not only sought to contain the spread of coronavirus but also aimed to carry on the office functioning effectively and without interruption.

According to the Minister, Work from Home (WFH) protocol developed by DoPT had been so successful that many a time, the work output was even more than the normal circumstances because government functionaries were working online even on the weekdays or holidays.